Being a-soon-to-be-former Coastie, I'll give my take on EPIRBS/ELTs:

Many of the cheaper EPIRBS/ELTs that are available used on ebay use the
old 121.5 Mhz frequency. That is going to be phased out soon on  the
direction finding satellites. Also, the newer EPRIBS/ELTs have a digital identifier.

When you buy a new (or newer) unit, you register yourself and the
receiver. This means when the unit is acitivated, they know *who* it is,
and will call a set of people you specify at registration. This can give
searchers some very important, possibily life saving information.

Bottom line is STAY AWAY FROM OLD(ER) USED UNITS. They may be completely
worthless in the future. An old unit might just give you a sense of false
security.

I have seen modern units for as little as $400.00. If you think you
need one, it's really important to spend the extra bucks. Of course,
staying out of dicey situations is the cheapest route. ;)

As always, use this information at your own risk, and these are my
personal opinions.

Jon

On Thu, 7 Dec 2006, TC wrote:

> > While it's not standard for terrestrial vehicles, EPIRB (*Emergency
> Position
> > Indicating Radio Beacon) *would be a good locator.
> Si did a quick flea bay search for epirb ther are some in the 500-1000 range
> then number in the $100 range sems like very cheap insurance
> but has anybody any experience on diff's  for $100 seems like I am gonna
> chuck
> one under the rear seat with the rest of my spare parts ...
>